Ask Nurse Alice

This is What It's Like To Work as a Hospice Nurse (with Beth Cavenaugh, RN, BSN, CHPN)

Nurse.org Season 2 Episode 69

So many times healthcare workers are focused on life-saving interventions for their patients. But what happens when the goals of care shift to providing comfort care only? What does that really mean? Do you clearly understand the difference between palliative care and hospice care? Do you know what a POLST is? This is a topic we don't talk enough about until we're in those situations. 

In this episode Nurse Alice speaks with Beth Cavenaugh, RN, BSN, CHPN who knows all too well what nurses are up against, not only during this overwhelming era but always. With over twenty-five years in internal medicine, short stay surgery, and hospice care, she understands firsthand that compassion in health care can sometimes be elusive. She shares her expertise in palliative care and hospice, as well as her new book, The Power and Pain of Nursing, which aims to arm both new and seasoned nurses with the tools necessary to care for themselves in the face of one of the most demanding professions in the world.